Lady of his Heart
by i.forgive.you
Summary: When Olga died, her sister Eyldis began taking care of the twin girls she gave birth to. Now Ibn has come for the twin daughters he knew nothing about, but Eyldis won't give them up without a fight. Ibn/OC HIATUS
1. Prologue: Calling Him

_**Disclaimer: I do own Thirteenth Warrior. I just love it passionately. I got this idea randomly and I want to see what people think of it. I hope you like it. I only own my three OCs for right now. There might be others later on.**_

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****Author's Note: I'm not sure who all dies so this is the list of who is alive of the warriors: Ibn, Edgtho, Herger, and Weath.**

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"I won't call to him Herger," Eydis hissed angrily. "He left for his own life. Rowan and Saldís are my daughters now. Olga would want it this way. 'Tis why she never called for him."

"Stop being a fool Eydis," Edgtho snapped in one of his rare outbursts.

"You cannot raise two girls on your own Edyis. You are alone woman. You must either call their father or marry. 'Tis your only choice." Weath insisted.

"Aye, only a fool man would say that," Eydis snapped as she pushed Herger out of her way and stirred the stew she had put on to brew.

"Maybe so Eydis, but it is men who rule this world and not you women." Weath snapped as Eydis moved over to the bread dough and began to knead it. "You must follow our rules and our laws. For the sake of those babes make a wise choice in this matter Edyis and stop allowing your pride to condemn the three of you."

Eydis stood still with only her shoulders shaking. Not a sound came from her, but they all knew that she was crying. Two five year old girls ran into the room and came to a halt when they saw the six warriors and the distress being caused to their aunt-mother. "Mama Eydis?" Saldís whimpered running over to the woman, clinging to her skirts.

"Out you old women!" Rowan yelled angrily smacking Edgtho's muscled leg. "You're hurtin' Mama Eydis. Leave! Don't come back 'til you're nice."

Edgtho stared down at the little girl who was hitting his leg and glaring at him with a mixture of admiration and annoyance. "Calm yourself child," Weath said picking up the red haired twin and holding her tight. "You'll upset your Mama more if you get Edgtho upset."

"Put her down Weath," Eydis said in a soft voice. Weath obeyed instantly afraid for the young woman's state of mind. "Come here Rowan, I need to speak with you and your sister. _Alone_," she glared at the warriors pointedly.

The men bowed their heads in acknowledgment to the young woman before turning and leaving. "She should take a husband." Weath said shaking his head. "She is already sixteen. I'm surprised Olga didn't find a way to marry her off before now."

"She and Eydis are too free spirited for that," Edgtho said shaking his head. "Their father's fault for not properly taming their mother all those years ago."

Herger shrugged. "It's nice to have a woman like that around though. She keeps a man alive."

Even Edgtho caught notice of that comment. "Oh?" He asked softly. "Why is that?"

"Her bickering keeps him on guard even when on the field," Herger said with a laugh. He was joined quickly by his friends.

That night after Eydis put Rowan and Saldís to bed, she summoned Weath and Herger to her home. "Call him," Eydis spat bitterly refusing to look at the warriors. "But do not be surprised when he doesn't not come. He has no loyalty to us after all. He is only an Arab."

Weath and Herger didn't bother their smiles. "Don't be surprised when we bring him back with us Eydis," Weath said happily. "He's our little brother after all. He's not like his kin. He can actually _survive_."

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_Baghdad_

_Five months later…_

Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan finished his prayers and stood up. Ever since he had returned home from the North some five years before, he had felt himself changed. He wasn't content in this land of his home. It was beautiful. He still loved it, but he missed the men who had claimed him as brother. He missed their rough language and their superstition. He missed their reckless lifestyle and their beautiful women. He missed their passion and their perception. His warrior brothers had been open in most cases, and only secretive when necessary. It was not so with his countrymen. They were always devious in their dealings. It had once been something he could overlook. Now it was something that made him sick.

"Master," the dark skinned slave bowed at the door and waited for Ibn's approval which he quickly gave. "There are men here who say they know you. I would send them away but they are great warriors and they frighten us. They are pale skinned savages. Please make them leave or allow us to call the guard master."

Ibn furrowed his brow. "Show them in," he ordered ignoring the slaves terror. The slave hesitated only a moment before running to do Ibn's bidding. There were few pale skinned men who knew Ibn well enough to come and find him. If it was true, why had they come. It made little sense to Ibn.

"Hello little brother," Herger greeted him in the Northmen's tongue with a bright smile.

"Herger. Weath. It has been a long time brothers. What brings you to my city. I never expected to see you come this far south."

Weath laughed. "In truth, neither did we, but this is a very important trip. There is something you left behind when you came back to this woman's city of yours."

Ibn looked at the two warriors in confusion. "I left nothing behind besides perhaps different life."

"Olga," Herger said staring at Ibn pointedly.

"Olga knew I was leaving," Ibn said shaking his head. "I was either going to die there or leave for my home. She knew that. She accepted it."

"That is not what we mean Ibn," Weath informed him. "Olga's been dead nigh on six and a half months now. Now, we're talking about the babes that she bore you after you left."

Ibn's eyebrows shot up in shock. "What?!" He shot up and was on his feet pacing. "Why has no one told me all these years. What of my children? Are they well? What are their names? How many are there? Who watches them?"

Herger laughed. "Calm and sit down. We'll tell all," he assured the Arab. Ibn considered a moment before resuming his seat. "They are twin girls: Rowan and Saldís. They'll be six in another pair of fortnights. Rowan has fiery red hair like her aunt and grandmother and your dark eyes. Saldís has her mother's fair hair and your eyes as well. They could only be yours. Olga was with no other man besides you and she would have no other man after you. Her little sister Eydis cares for them now. Eydis cannot care for herself and the two little ones alone. She is almost seventeen. She needs to find a husband. She refuses. She didn't want to call on you either. She is certain you will not come."

Ibn was offended and let his annoyance show. "Of course I will come. They are my daughters. I would be lower than a useless bastard slave if I did not." Weath and Herger burst out laughing at that declaration, but Ibn did not stop there. "I will even care for Olga's sister. It is only right. If I would have known she would have been mine to care for. I _will_ go back with you."

"Told her," Weath said with a chuckle. "You'll have your hands full with Eydis. She's as fiery as her hair."

"Like you and Skeld were?" Ibn asked.

Herger and Weath shook their heads still laughing. "Nay, _worse_."


	2. Chapter One: The Arab Arrives

_**Disclaimer: I do not own 13**__**th**__** Warrior (book or movie). I own Eyldis, **__**Rowan and Saldís.**_

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Eyldis swept her hair off her shoulder and surveyed her domain. The room was as clean as it could get. There wasn't much more that she could do for it or to it for that matter short of rearranging the furniture which she had already done twice. She was terrified, but she could not allow it to show. He was coming. He was actually coming. She had never thought it possible. Why was he coming?! Had Weath and Herger kidnapped him? Had they bribed him? Did they know some terrible secret that they were using against him. Surely he had not come of his own free will. If that was true, then she could hate him. She didn't know what she would do if she couldn't hate him.

Eyldis paced the room wringing her hands and waiting for the party to be announced. What did he look like? Would he want to take the girls back to his homeland? What would he say of her? She had been dreading this day for the past year. Now it was here. She hated that thought. That this one man could make her fret so desperately. Saldís stole into the room and touched her aunt as the woman paced the room furiously.

Eyldis stopped abruptly when she felt the little hand brush her skirt. She looked down at her blonde niece and swept the girl up in her arms. "What is wrong Mama Eyldis? Did Rowan and I do something wrong?" The girl's big dark brown eyes looked up at her imploringly.

Eyldis stroked the girl's blonde curls. "No my darling, you and your sister have been very good. I've just been thinking too much."

Eyldis hugged Saldís close and kissed the girl's mop of hair. "Where did your sister run off to little sun?"

"She went to play with Alf and Idonea near the wall," Saldís replied leaning her head against Eyldis's shoulder.

Eyldis nodded absently. "Yes, that's well."

The call announcing the arrival of a large group made Eyldis jump and her heart slam against her chest. "Freya protect us…he's here…"

"Who Mama Eyldis?" Saldís whispered desperately. "Who's here?"

"Your father…"

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"You've done well by this place," Ibn said with a nod. "It looks much better than when we had time for even the temporary fortifications."

"Yes well, for some reason people live here," Herger said with a laugh. "Come now little brother, we're almost to Eyldis's home now."

"You old women are back?" The speaker was a small girl with vibrant red hair, smears of dirt on her face and hair and her hands on her hips.

"Hello to you too little one," Weath said brightly. "Why aren't you with your sister and your aunt?"

"I've no need to tell you dog," the girl growled.

"Aye, but you'd tell your father," Herger pointed out.

The girl's eyes were dark and dead. "I have no father."

"Then what do you call our little brother?" Herger asked. "Ibn, meet your fiery daughter Rowan. Rowan, this is your father."

Rowan glared at Ibn with all the hate a six-year-old could muster which was apparently quite a bit from the look on her face. "You're no father of mine," she told him flatly. "A father does not abandon his family. You're nothing but a maggot, a woman, and a bastard."

"Watch your tongue!" Herger and Weath both snapped at the girl angrily.

"I'll not," the girl snapped before turning on her heel and walking away.

"That…that _child_ is mine?" Ibn asked his two friends in disbelief.

Herger sighed. "Aye, that she is little brother. Rowan is fierce for one so young isn't she? Saldís is much sweeter. Gods know how she came by that."

"I shall have to set Rowan right. Have none of the men offered for Eyldis? Did none offer for Olga for that matter?"

"Of course they do!" Herger exclaimed drawing little attention. "Eyldis turns them down just as Olga did. These women are impossible I tell you."

Weath shrugged. "They are not _impossible_, merely trying to lead us all on a merry chase. I think you should have more faith in our little brother Herger."

"We shall see if you say the same after they've met." Herger muttered darkly.

"I think I would like to decide for myself," Ibn interjected softly. "She is, after all, my responsibility now is she not."

Weath and Herger laughed. "If you can handle her," Weath told him.

The hut that Weath and Herger led Ibn to made annoyance rise inside of him. Thinking back on the luxury that he had lived in in his own city, Ibn became sickened with not only the condition that his children lived in, but what he had lived in. How could he have knowingly lived in such decadence all these years. "This is where they have been made to live," Ibn hissed angrily.

"You overestimate our ability when it comes to dealing with Eyldis. She doesn't even believe that you will come. We told you that already. Do you honestly think she would allow anyone to help her raising your daughters? That girl doesn't have the sense the gods gave a dog I tell you."

"Then I am a less than a dog now Herger?" The young woman who growled at the warrior for the door was beautiful. Her hair was long and full of curls and waves as her sisters had been, but her hair was not the gold her sisters had been. No, this woman-child's hair was the color of fire. Her eyes were intense and cold. "If you must insist on insulting me, I'll have you leave."

"You know I would never say such a thing Eyldis. Do not exaggerate." Herger replied rolling his eyes.

"And yet you did you old woman," Eyldis snapped. Her eyes turned to Ibn and she stared at him coldly. "Are you the Arab my sister and the other warriors have spoken so _highly_ of?"

"He is," Weath assured her. "And we did not kidnap, bribe, or trick the man into coming here Eyldis."

"We shall see," was all Eyldis would say as she turned back to the interior of the hut. "You may come in."

Ibn looked to the two other warriors for support. They merely shrugged. "That's her way," Herger said casually. "Are you going to go in little brother, or are you afraid of a little woman?"

"He'd be wise to fear that little woman," Weath said with a laugh.

"I do not fear a woman," Ibn stated the fact as if he were certain, but inside he wasn't. In truth, he was terrified of the woman and of the twins that were his own. He could never tell his warrior brothers that though. He would never live it down.


End file.
